Hansi ‘custodial’ death: HC issues notice to state
Chandigarh, February 17
Just three days after a man died in police custody in Hansi, inquest proceedings have indicated it’s not a case of death by suicide. To ensure that the case is not passed of as suicide, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has favoured a judicial probe into the incident after taking suo motu cognizance of a report carried in these columns.

What is collector rateCollector rate is the minimum price of land
fixed by the government

House tax likely to be minimal
Chandigarh, February 17
Compelled to reintroduce house tax after the Centre linked the funding of state projects to its imposition, Haryana seems ready with its recommendations on user charges as also the criterion for the imposition of house tax in the state.

Special girdawari ordered:
Sangwan
Bhiwani, February 17
Revenue Minister Satpal Sangwan visited about two dozen villages in Charkhi Dadri, Loharu and Badhra today. He said Bhiwani district had been the worst-hit by rains and hailstorm in the past two days. Hisar and Jhajjar districts had also
suffered losses.

Under-construction building collapses
Gurgaon, February 17
Two persons were reportedly trapped under the debris when a six-storeyed under-construction building collapsed in Udyog Vihar Phase-I here in the wee hours today.
Police and Fire Department personnel rushed to the spot for rescue and relief operations after they were informed about the mishap early this morning.

An under-construction building that collapsed in Gurgaon on Thursday. Tribune photo: Sayeed Ahmed

Health Budget
Govt plans 3-fold hike
Faridabad, February 17
The state government plans a three-fold increase in the budgetary allocation for health in the coming financial year. This was revealed here today by Health Minister Rao Narender Singh.

CPM seeks plots for the landless
Hisar, February 17
Activists of the CPM staged a demonstration here yesterday seeking allotment of residential plots to landless households, proper implementation of the MNEREGA scheme, checking inflation and adequate supply of irrigation and drinking water to all villages.

Protest against Seed Bill
Jhajjar, February 17
Terming the Seed Ordinance Bill-2004 in the Rajya Sabha as “anti-farmers”, workers of the district unit the Bharatiya Janata Party Kisan Morch
(BJPKM), led by its national president Om Prakash Dhankar, today sat on a day-long dharna at the mini-secretariat here and submitted a memorandum, addressed to the Union Agriculture Minister, to the
Tehsildar.

Report illegal sale of LPG, get
Rs 1,100
Sirsa, February 16
Now, reporting illegal sale of Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG) cylinders in Sirsa will fetch a cash prize of Rs 1,100.
The district authorities today started this unique scheme to find a solution to the shortage of LPG cylinders in the district.

Chandigarh, February 17
Just three days after a man died in police custody in Hansi, inquest proceedings have indicated it’s not a case of death by suicide. To ensure that the case is not passed of as suicide, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has favoured a judicial probe into the incident after taking suo motu cognizance of a report carried in these columns.

Notice to the State of Haryana and other respondents has been issued.

Taking cognizance of The Tribune report “Mob torches Hansi police station; DSP injured” published on February 15, Justice Ranjit Singh said: “As per the news item, there has been an incident of mob violence on account of an apparent custodial death.

“Since the area falls within the jurisdiction of Hisar, under my administrative control, I got in touch with the District and Sessions Judge to ascertain the factual position. I was told that the inquest in the case has been conducted by a magistrate at Hansi and his finding is that it is not a case of suicidal death.

“Thereafter, I spoke to the judicial officer, who confirmed this fact... The administration, however, is passing it of as a case of suicide, which cannot be ignored.

“I, therefore, deem it appropriate to place the matter before the Chief Justice for taking action in accordance with law to order a judicial inquiry so that the case of custodial death is not passed of as that of suicide”.

Justice Ranjit Singh’s note was placed before Justice Nirmaljit Kaur this morning after obtaining the necessary orders. After going through the news report, enclosed with the note, Justice Nirmaljit Kaur ordered the issuance of notice. She fixed the next hearing for March 10. A furious mob had torched a police station and a police post at Hansi town following the death of a Sainipuira resident, Subhash, while in police custody on February 15.His body was found hanging from the ceiling of the police lockup. He had been detained on the charge of creating public disorder.

In an apparent twist to the controversy over the alleged torture and rape of Rajasthani workers in police custody, Ambala Chief Judicial Magistrate, in his report, has indicated that the allegations of rape do not stand established.

The report was placed before the Punjab and Haryana High Court Division Bench of Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Augustine George Masih in a sealed cover. The Bench made verbal observations to the effect.

The Bench asked amicus curiae-cum-president of the Punjab and Haryana High Court Bar Association GS Attariwala

Chandigarh, February 17
Compelled to reintroduce house tax after the Centre linked the funding of state projects to its imposition, Haryana seems ready with its recommendations on user charges as also the criterion for the imposition of house tax in the state.

Sources said against the earlier practice of deciding the house tax on the basis of the size of the plot, the Department of Urban Local Bodies has suggested that this be linked to the constructed area irrespective of the size of the plot.

Also, while the tax rates being charged from plot owners were based on the 2001-02 collector rates, the department is of the view that the tax be based on the existing collector rates of an area. This, officials feel, will substantially hike the income from tax even if the rates are kept minimal.

The sources maintain that like other taxes, the government intends to allow self-assessment while laying down that users will not be required to submit affidavits for exemption.

Since the government is reluctant about going ahead, the tax rate is likely to be minimal. However, this is likely to be imposed retrospectively since the withdrawal of exemption to self-occupied houses was withdrawn in April last year. A meeting for the same will be chaired by Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda on February 22.

According to the recommendations finalised by the department on the basis of suggestions of a minister-level committee headed by the Urban Local Bodies Minister, house owners exempted from house tax over two years ago may now have to shell out tax to the tune of 0.1 per cent of the collector rate of the locality as user charges.

The sources say while 0.1 per cent tax will be applicable to houses above the 250 sq yd category, 50 per cent concession in tax liability will be given to self-occupied houses.

According to the unit area method of assessment based on the constructed area rather than plot size, a resident will have to pay Rs 2,500 a year as house tax for a 500 sq yd plot in a locality which has a collector rate of Rs 10,000 per sq yd in a self-occupied house.

The sources say the committee has recommended that a tax of 0.2 per cent be levied on owners with establishments other than residential. Further, residents can further avail themselves of a concession of 25 per cent each if the house is old, katcha (that is non-RCC) or falls in the economically weaker section (EWS) category. House owners can take the benefit of all three categories together as well. In case of residential areas, if a house is on rent, the owner will be required to pay just over 2 per cent of the rent or Rs 10,000 computed tax, whichever is higher. For commercial areas, the owner will have to pay 5 per cent of the rent towards house tax, according to the proposal.

Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda has already announced that owners of houses up to 250 sq yd will only have to pay a token tax of Re 1 per sq yd per year. The sources add that this provision will take care of almost 70 to 80 per cent of the population in the state. The recommendations of the panel will be put before the Chief Minister for discussion before being tabled at the Cabinet meeting.

With the inclusion of 50-odd villages in the municipal limits in Gurgaon and the boom in the area, the revenue collected from this corporation alone can be substantial, the sources say.

The Hooda government had exempted residential areas from house tax in 2007 which totalled to about Rs 40 crore at that time while the state is collecting Rs 80 crore by way of tax from non-residential plots.

The amount so collected will provide some respite to the fund-starved municipal councils and committees.

Bhiwani, February 17
Revenue Minister Satpal Sangwan visited about two dozen villages in Charkhi Dadri, Loharu and Badhra today. He said Bhiwani district had been the worst-hit by rains and hailstorm in the past two days. Hisar and Jhajjar districts had also
suffered losses.

As directed by the CM, revenue teams had been constituted to assess the loss through a special girdawari. Adequate compensation would be paid to the farmers on the basis of the assessment report in the next few days, the minister said.

In Badhra, the minister talked to the affected farmers and visited their fields. “In several Bhiwani villages, mustard, wheat, onion and barley crops have been ruined cent per cent,” he said. Officials had completed primary inspection of the affected villages and a re-survey would be undertaken soon. Accompanied by Additional DC RC Bidhan, SDM Hoshiar Singh Siwach, naib tehsildar Satpal Singh and councillor Dharmender Sangwan, he also visited Loharu, Charkhi Dadri and Siwani areas.

Gurgaon, February 17
Two persons were reportedly trapped under the debris when a six-storeyed under-construction building collapsed in Udyog Vihar Phase-I here in the wee hours today.

Police and Fire Department personnel rushed to the spot for rescue and relief operations after they were informed about the mishap early this morning.

Fire officer Hanuman Sihag said they got a call around 7 am and sent their vehicles for rescuing the persons trapped under the debris. Police officials from the Bhim Nagar police station also reached the spot, Plot No. 100
in Udyog Vihar Phase-I, he added.

The rescue and relief operations were on till the time of filing of this report. The reason behind the mishap is yet to be ascertained.

Faridabad, February 17
The state government plans a three-fold increase in the budgetary allocation for health in the coming financial year. This was revealed here today by Health Minister Rao Narender Singh.

A proposal to this effect will be made in the budgetary proposals by the government in the Vidhan Sabha in its coming Budget session. The minister, who was on his first visit here after assuming charge of the Health portfolio, inspected the local Badshah Khan Civil Hospital.

He said imporving healthcare facilities in the state was among the top priorities of the government.

He said the process to recruit 400 doctors had been started to fill vacancies in hospitals and other health centres in the state.

He said on account of the government’s priority to expedite the filling of the vacancies, the responsibility of recruitment of doctors had been taken out of the ambit of the Haryana Public Service Commission and handed over to the department.

He cautioned doctors not to be found wanting in delivering medical services and care to the patients. He directed the hospital authorities here to be prompt in providing medicines to patients free of cost as had been mandated by the government.

Hisar, February 17
Activists of the CPM staged a demonstration here yesterday seeking allotment of residential plots to landless households, proper implementation of the MNEREGA scheme, checking inflation and adequate supply of irrigation and drinking water to all villages.

Addressing the protesters at the mini-secretariat, CPM state secretary Inderjeet Singh said the Centre and the state governments were pursuing anti-people policies leading to widespread disparities.

Hisar, February 17
Deputy Commissioner Amit Kumar Aggarwal said here today that any Dalit family from Mirchpur residing outside will be given Rs 10,000 if it returns to the village.

Talking to mediapersons, he said those Dalit families which had returned had been paid the grant already. As and when the remaining families chose to return, a similar grant would be paid to them.

He said the administration would ensure schooling facilities for the children of the Dalit families staying outside. A panel had been set up under the chairmanship of District Development and Panchayat Officer Sumit Kumar to prepare a list of such children. Aggarwal said the district administration was committed to developing Mirchpur as a model
village.

Superintendent of Police Hanif Qureshi, who was also present at the press conference, said three companies of the police would remain stationed in Mirchpur to ensure peace.

Jhajjar, February 17
Terming the Seed Ordinance Bill-2004 in the Rajya Sabha as “anti-farmers”, workers of the district unit the Bharatiya Janata Party Kisan Morch (BJPKM), led by its national president Om Prakash Dhankar, today sat on a day-long dharna at the mini-secretariat here and submitted a memorandum, addressed to the Union Agriculture Minister, to the Tehsildar.

Addressing the farmers at the dharna site, Dhankar said if the Bill was passed by the Rajya Sabha, the control of seeds of all crops would not only go into the hands of multinational companies buy also curtail the rights of states as under the ordinance, a seed committee would be constituted at the central level, which would patent all branded seeds.

“The kisan morch will not accept the Bill in the present form. It has sent its demand charter, including 16 amendments and clarifications, to the Union Agriculture Minister through the district authorities for getting the demands added in the Bill,” said Dhankar, adding that the Bill would adversely affect the farmers’ interests.

Sirsa, February 16
Now, reporting illegal sale of Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG) cylinders in Sirsa will fetch a cash prize of Rs 1,100.
The district authorities today started this unique scheme to find a solution to the shortage of LPG cylinders in the district.

DC Yudhvir Singh Khyalia announced this while presiding over a meeting of the officers convened to evolve a strategy to check the sale of gas cylinders on the black market. He said the authorities would keep the names of the informers secret.

Surprise checking would be made to check the record and functioning of the gas agencies working in the district.Teams of officials had also been constituted under the Sub-Divisional Magistrate at sub-division level and under naib tehsildar at the sub-tehsil level. The teams would monitor the activities of the gas agencies and check their records periodically.

The DC said anybody could give information to the SDM or the naib tehsildar concerned .

The DC directed the officers of the Food and Supplies Department to check the record of the agencies.